


A Minor Mystery

by vlaplomb



Category: Purple Hyacinth - Ephemerys & Sophism (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, HAPPY BIRTHDAY URM, I wouldn't do that to urm, THERE'S ART BY HONTUERI TO GO WITH IT, The crack is not severe, fluffy college au, it's a kywi college au, not mentioned but lukas is will's roomie, pre law go brrrrr, thank you hontueri, theatre major go brrrrr, they aren't the police but they get chased by police
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:15:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29757405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vlaplomb/pseuds/vlaplomb
Summary: Will can't stand Kym.  She's a theatre major, of course, and as a pre-law student, he isn't supposed to entertain the thought of wasting so much time on the arts anyway.  Somehow, he's got everyone around him thinking that's the way it is, and he isn't about to let that change.When their friend who usually bridges the gap cancels on them, Will and Kym have to figure out some way to pass the time on their own.And around Kym's deceptively witty mind, nothing remains a secret for long.
Relationships: William Hawkes/Kym Ladell
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	A Minor Mystery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cath3aven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cath3aven/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAWTY BAE URMMM :losingmymind: I hope you have an amazing day and enjoy this fic ahdksjfksd ❤️❤️❤️
> 
> ELLIE AND I COLLABORATED ON YOUR GIFT :LOSINGMYMIND: She drew a scene from this fic and you'll be able to find it on [her Instagram page](https://instagram.com/hontueri?igshid=1s7p67kqx16g0).

The Tuesday morning sunlight filtered through the coffee shop window, casting blinding slivers of light across the hardwood and bathing the entire room in a pleasant glow. Typical of any place Ardhalis University students frequented, the dining area was bustling with the morning rush in search of a caffeine boost.

Will would never admit it, but Tuesdays were his favorite days. With his 18-credit pre-law course load, he hardly ever got a day off, but on this one particular day of the week, his only class of the day was in the late afternoon. Fortunately for him, his schedule aligned in a way that two of his friends were also free on Tuesday mornings, and they made a point of going out for coffee on a weekly basis, no matter what happened. It was the only fun thing he did.

Well, almost only.

“You sure are here early,” the girl across from him said. They were both standing on opposite sides of the door, leaning against the wall - close enough to talk, but not close enough to seem like they were there together. He glanced over to find the top of her sapphire hued head for a fraction of a second before she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. She gave him a small smile.

“You seem to forget that you’re here as well,” he scoffed, turning away to stare down the menu over the counter. There was no point; he ordered the same thing every week. “I think a more appropriate assessment would be to assume that our good friend Lauren is running late.”

Her laugh bubbled up out of her, just gently brushing past his ears amidst the cafe chatter. “How very observant of you, Hawkes.”

They drifted back into silence again, Will scrutinizing the menu, his companion Kym staring down at her hands. His hand crept towards his pocket in search of his phone, anything to fiddle with, but he simply nudged it into his pocket. It would be somewhat rude of him to be reading on his phone with her right in front of them.

But they had nothing to talk about.

He willed for Lauren to arrive as soon as possible - not because they were dating, of course. The cafe crew was a trio, with Lauren set as the glue, the bridge between pre-law student and theatre major. The pair standing in the coffee shop then probably would never have met if not for their mutual friend, a criminal justice major in Will’s psychology course who also happened to share a hometown with Kym. Without her there to smooth over the tension, there was nothing for them to discuss. Nothing civil, anyway.

Only one thing was for certain: they could argue all day and night over whose major was better.

_“You’re never going to find a well-paying job,”_ Will would insist on occasion. He hated to admit it, but he did have a genuine concern for her future.

_“And you’ve got a stick up your ass,”_ was her favorite retort, although she had many. Most of them had to do with his ass.

It wasn’t the most pleasant thing to discuss on a Tuesday morning - the juxtaposition of their majors, that is. Lately, Will had been finding himself more and more half-hearted in finding criticisms for her, and he knew exactly why.

But if she ever found out that he was-

_Ding._

Kym and Will both fumbled for their phones, which had sounded off simultaneously, craving release from the tension that had seized them. Just as Will had made out the name _Lauren_ over his notification, he heard an inhuman groan.

“Lauren is abandoning us!” Kym wailed. Frowning over her dramatism, Will clicked the notification. “Apparently she has some exam tomorrow that she needs to study for.”

Will pressed his lips together, pocketing his phone before he’d even had the chance to read the message. At this point, he didn’t even need to - Kym was his own personal Alexa. “I’ll be off, then,” Will said, hiking his textbook-laden backpack further over his shoulder. “I could use the extra time anyway.”

“Wait!” He turned around, hand on the door, to find Kym with an outstretched hand toward him, not quite grasping his sleeve. The sun danced in her eyes, dyeing them a rich honey with tangerine stars. “Who says we need Lauren to grab a cup o’ joe?”

Will sighed, running his hand along thedoor handle. “We can get cheaper stuff at the dining hall.”

“ _Sir_ ,” she said, mockery lacing her voice, “I know you’ve been working your ass off reading the Constitution and all that. Treat yourself.”

“I do not-” Will released the door to rub at his forehead. “Look, you of all people should be considering how to save money, with a major like yours-”

“I, of all people, pulled an all nighter last night.” She took the blue collar of his shirt in her fist, dragging him down to her much shorter level. “Look at these eyebags.”

“What kept you up?” he taunted, his own eyes scanning her face. Unlike she suggested, her skin was bright and clear. “Trying to figure out how to solve a problem like Maria?”

No amount of a background in acting could keep her from snorting at that. She released him with a shove. “Creatice, but no, brat. I just need a shot of caffeine is all.”

“You can get it yourself, but I’ll be-”

“I’ll pay.”

He spun on his heel, eyeing her in his peripheral. “You’re-”

“I may be a broke arts student, but I’m not that poor. Let me treat you.”

“I cannot accept-”

“ _I cannot accept_ ,” she said, waving her hands in an exaggerated form of Will’s own gesture. “This isn’t an appellate court case request. This is coffee.”

“How do you know what an appellate court is?”

“The same way you know who Maria von Trapp is.” She flicked the strap of his backpack. “I’m smart.”

Rolling his eyes, Will dropped his bag to the ground. “If you’re paying, the least I can do is order.”

“Oh, thanks,” Kym said, her eyebrows leaping up towards her bangs. Frowning, she pawed through her much smaller bag, pulling out her wallet. In a split second, it flew through the air and hit him squarely in the abdomen. He fumbled to catch it. “Pay with cash or debit. I have no preference.”

“Why would you give me your whole wallet?”

“I thought you were a man of the law.”

He considered it, pocketing the little blue pouch. “Fair enough. Would you like your usual?”

“Yes, please.”

“I’ll be right back.” He waved over his shoulder. “Watch my bag.”

As he faded in with the line up to the counter, he heard her voice faintly calling after him. “Wait - how do you even remember my order?”

He merely chuckled. It wasn’t hard to forget - she was the only person he knew who would order watermelon hibiscus tea with a shot of honey over coffee. It did have caffeine, though - that he had to give her credit for.

With their drinks in hand, Will started out for her, making eye contact across the room. He started towards a table. As soon as he’d set their cups down, Kym was at his side, one of their backpacks slung over each shoulder.

“No,” she said emphatically.

“I’m standing here about to have a drink with you,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Is that not what you wanted?”

“Well, did you really think I wanted to drink them here?”

He stared her down. “Um...yes.”

“That’s so flavorless.” She jerked her thumb toward the door, hand still clinging to the strap of his backpack on her shoulder. “I know of a place we can go.”

Since it didn’t appear he had much of a choice in the matter anyway, Will followed her out the door, continuing to carry both of their drinks as she trotted along with both of their backpacks. “Where are you taking me?”

“I’m not taking you anywhere. You happen to be following me.”

“Right.” He chuckled. “Holding both of our drinks and your wallet.”

“You really are a man of his word,” she murmured, falling into step beside him. He couldn’t quite form a response to that, so they continued on in silence, listening to the humming cacophony that was the campus grounds. Of all people, he couldn’t believe that he was here, hanging out with Kym Ladell, a _theatre_ major.

Is this what his life would have looked at if he had chosen a different path?

In his legal path, there truly was no right or wrong. Well, there _was_ , but sometimes there was more than one answer. It was like trying to pick the purest shade of white in a moral greyscale - not impossible, but not straightforward either. It wasn't that he disliked it - there were aspects that he was more fond of than others - but a lot of the time, it could be downright draining.

But Kym, at least in his experience, made it up as she went and always had a solution. It never was painfully obvious to him, but as soon as she suggested something, it just seemed _right_. Will didn’t want to stay for coffee? She would pay for his. In some ways, it was terrifying, and in others, an absolute breath of fresh air.

It made him want to step out of his dorm and fill his lungs more often.

Something jabbed in his ear, inciting a cough from him. He whipped his head around to find Kym connected to him via earbud cord, pressing play on her phone.

“This is unsanitary,” he said, lifting a hand to remove it.

“Oh, stop,” Kym said, swatting his hand away. “Have you ever eaten something off the floor?”

Will glanced off to the buildings on the other side of the grounds. “Maybe.”

“This is no worse! It does have music though.” He hadn’t been paying much attention, but when she waved her phone at him, he noticed the steady beats pouring into his ear. It was a song he recognized.

“It was getting awkward,” she noted bluntly. “I thought I’d introduce you to this thing called _music_ , you see, it’s a bunch of sounds mixed together at different pitches-”

“I know what music is.” If only she knew to what extent - but he couldn’t tell her that just yet. “I listen to it all the time.”

“What kind of music? Classical?” She grinned up at him, a teasing grin that made his heart twist in an unnatural direction. “Let me guess - your favorite band is the Vienna Philharmonic.”

“What? No!” He laughed uneasily - there was no way she could know, was there? “I know this song, actually?”

“You do?”

_“If I die, don’t wake me, cause you are more than just a dream,”_ he sang along softly, unable to meet her eyes. He could tell, though, even with his gaze glued to the ground, that she was gaping.

“Switch majors!” she said, tugging at his arm. He glared at her. “I mean, not literally. But really, you would make for a great musician.”

He grimaced again, once again seeing that golden opportunity to bring it up. _His music minor._ It would absolutely obliterate her image of him.

_Not yet._

“Maybe we should be headed to karaoke,” she said, a smirk playing with her lips. “In fact-”

“No,” Will said emphatically, and they were back in their usual state, just like that. Well, maybe not usual. A conversation had never lasted so long between them.

“We’re here, actually.”

Will glanced up from his stare down on the lids of their drinks to see where exactly “here” was. They were clearly on the outskirts of campus - he had never seen this place before. The ground was teeming with wildflowers, spilling out over a broken down wooden fence and decorating the lawn as far as he could tell it went. They were backed up against the sciences building, the brick contrasting in an aesthetic way with the lavender and Queen Anne’s lace that he thought only ever existed on calendars and desktop backgrounds.

“What do you think?” she asked, reminding him that she was there. He turned back toward her, careful not to upset the drinks he was carrying.

“It’s...nice,” he said begrudgingly, nodding his approval. An interesting formation surrounded by a circle of benches caught the corner of his eye. He pointed towards it with one of the drinks. “What’s that?”

“A sundial!” Kym dropped their bags, taking off for the structure.

“Hey, careful,” he yelled, scowling down at their bags. “I’ll come back for you,” he assured them, before following after her.

She stood in the center, hands raised, and he couldn’t help but think she looked like a raccoon. “Hey, check this out!” she called to him, even though he was standing mere meters away. “It’s 1:30 pm.”

“Kym, it’s April.”

“It is!” She beamed at him, sprawling her fingers up towards the sky. “Aren’t you a smart little-”

“You’re standing on the January block. It’s the morning.”

“Oh.” She chuckled, sidestepping to the appropriate month. “I suppose that’d make a difference in the placement of the sun, huh?”

“Well, it was still pretty early when we arrived at the cafe-”

“Bold of you to assume I ever check the time.”

“Isn’t there a watch on your wrist?” As he said it, Kym waved the hand in question at him, letting the gold glint off her wrist in the sunlight and throw glaring reflections on the nearby building.

“Why yes! How observant of you.” She held it up to her face. “It doesn’t work though.”

Puzzled, Will stepped closer to her, holding her tea out for her to take. “Then why would you continue to wear it?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” A reminiscent expression crossed her face, almost like a cloud returning to cover the sun. For the first time, Will considered that maybe her smile wasn’t so much like the morning sun as it was the sunlight that appeared after a brutal rainstorm. “We all do strange things to feel at home here, don’t we?”

He nodded in silence, joining her in staring upwards at the clouds flowing across the sky.

“You don’t feel though, do you?” She brushed her hair back from her face, taking a sip of her drink before continuing. “You professional major kids.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Will replied, bringing his own cup to his mouth. The scalding liquid had cooled down to a pleasant warmth, and he smiled as he sipped his hazelnut vanilla latte. “I have my fair share of little comforts.”

“Hmm.” She didn’t press further. Maybe despite the exuberant personality, Kym really wasn’t all that pushy - at least not about the important stuff.

He was learning a lot about her today.

After a few moments, he hauled their bookbags over and plopped down on the bench next to her. “Look, that cloud looks kind of like a cat,” she muttered, angling her straw so it jutted up in the direction of the cumulus.

“Sure does,” he said back, even though he really couldn’t see the resemblance. He pointed at another one. “That one looks like a duck.”

“Hmph. I’d say it’s more of a goose.” They shared a laugh. “Do you see that one over there?”

“Ladell, look at how many clouds there are in the sky and tell me, what do you think?”

“‘You are a saucy boy,’” she said with a smirk, dumping her ice beneath a plant and tossing the empty plastic cup into her bag. “That’s Shakespeare, you know.”

“I still don’t know which cloud you’re talking about.”

“Right over there,” she said, taking hold of each side of his face and turning it so he would see what she was seeing. “It looks like a sun.”

It did. “It does,” Will murmured, his voice slightly muffled by Kym turning his head for him. “Funny how it looks like the sun when there’s already one in the sky.”

“It won’t be there forever,” she mused, and they watched as the condensation dissipated into a different shape. “Look, now it’s shaped like a heart.”

He turned against her grip, but her hands had gone slack. Instead of turning his head maybe ten degrees, he was absolutely facing her now. One of her hands fell from his face, but the other, the one he had turned into, remained in place.

“Will-” her voice cracked slightly. His face felt like it was on fire, set aflame by the morning sun. Her eyes fluttering shut, she looked like the picture of delighted peace. Without full cognition of what he was doing, Will leaned forward. They were so close-

“Hey! What are you kids doing here?” a voice barked. Will jumped.

Kym’s eyes flew open as she turned 90 degrees to look in the opposite direction of the voice. “Turn around, Will,” she hissed. “They’re gonna identify you by your face.”

“What the hell?” he shot back. “Who?”

“The police,” she said, her fixated stare on the other side of the plain unwavering.

His jaw dropped. “Wha- is this private property?” The voices grew closer. “Don’t answer that, just-” he closed his hand around her wrist, scrambling to his feet and pulling her up with him. “Let’s get out of here.”

He took off in a sprint, practically dragging the blue-haired freshman behind him. Their backpacks thumped rhythmically against their backs, knocking the wind out of him quickly.

“Wait, Will, I’m sorry-” she called, getting cut off by shouts of “Hey!” and “Get back here!” Will merely picked up the pace, clinging to her as if she would fall away. He swiped at the perspiration beading at his hairline with the hand that was still holding his coffee cup.

He hadn’t dressed formally, but he hadn’t dressed for a 5K, either.

Shoving open the double doors of a building he knew all too well, they burst into an empty lobby, only noticed by the eyes of the lone security guard. He raised his eyebrow at the pair. “William? Is that you?”

He nodded, barely able to catch his breath in time for his next sentence. “Are there any open practice rooms?”

“Yes,” the guard said after a momentary pause. “What’s going on?”

“We were never here,” Will said, tightening his grip around Kym’s wrist again and dragging her toward the nearest open door. “Please.”

“You have my word,” the man replied, tipping his hat to them.

The door shut behind them with a click. Will would have sighed if he had any air left at all - but instead he collapsed against the door in a breathless state. “Good grief.”

“I’m sorry, Will-”

He rolled his head against the door to glance down at her, still breathing heavily. “It’s fine,” he breathed, allowing her a small smile. His hand was still wrapped around hers. He dropped it. “It was almost fun.”

She returned a devilish grin. “Breaking the law can be fun.”

“Hardly!” He ran a hand through his hair, setting his cup down on the floor. “Good thing I’m studying law - it seems I’ll be defending you in court sometime in the future.”

“Pfft.” Her eyebrows danced across her forehead suggestively. “Are you suggesting that you want to talk to me again?”

He coughed slightly. “Sure, I guess.”

She glanced towards the piano sitting there in the practice room, biting her lip. “You’re gonna hate me for this, but...you’d make a hell of a theatre major.”

“Oh?” His eyebrows leapt upwards involuntarily. “Elaborate.”

“Well, all this time, you really had me thinking you were a boring person.”

His breath hitched in his throat again, and he fumbled for a response, rolling his eyes. “Should I be flattered or offended?”

“Flattered, I think,” she said, her eyes the most serious he had seen them look all day. “After all, you’re far more fun to be around when you aren’t pretending to be someone you aren’t.”

“Excuse me?” He finally stood upright from his lean against the door, looking at her straight on. “What are you insinuating?”

“Will.” She remained unfaltering, crossing her arms over her front. “How did you know where to find the practice rooms to hide in?” He fell silent, and she nodded knowingly. “Why does the security guard here know you by name?”

He tapped out the right handed melody of a piece against the drywall. “I’m a music minor,” he admitted, after letting her question sit in the air for a moment or two. “Piano performance.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know.” He swiped at his face with his hand. “Or maybe I do. Maybe it was like...admitting defeat, somehow.” All this time, he’d been ridiculing her for her choice in major, and yet here he was, trying to live out the life he wanted to live vicariously through some minor program. How pathetic.

“It’s not at all like that, Will!” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you realize how glad I am to know that there’s a little artist inside of you?”

His head rested against the door with a thud. “I dunno, I just...it’s not like I’ll be able to do anything with it. Why am I even taking the extra classes when I’m already in such a rigorous program, you know?”

She heaved a soft little sigh, and even without words, Will could somehow hear the smile in it. “You like it, don’t you? That’s all that matters.”

His lips turned upwards. “I guess behind all the teasing, I look up to you, you know? For doing something you love.”

“Thanks.” When he looked at her, she was no longer facing him. “I feel like I’ve been needing to hear that lately.”

They stood in silence for a moment. The hallway outside the room seemed clear - no hint of the steps that had been chasing them. “It’s hot as hell in here,” she remarked. “Is it always this hot when you come to practice?”

“Yes,” he said, cringing, “but all the better of an excuse to leave. We’d better not hold up this room in case someone else wants to use it.”

“Right.” She turned, settling her hand down on the doorknob. “Would you ever...want to duet sometime?”

His grin threatened to break his face. “I would like that,” he managed.

Exiting the practice room, they headed their separate ways. The grin never fell from Will’s face - not when he waved a goodbye and thank you to the security guard, not when he narrowly escaped being hit by an oncoming biker, not when he arrived back to his dorm room and collapsed on his bed, ignored by his roommate. He discarded his back of books he’d forgotten he brought to study, tossing it on the floor.

When he fell back against the bed, something in his back pocket jabbed into his skin. Barely rising, he made an attempt to fish the item out, screwing his face in the process. He pulled the object out to dangle it in front of his eyes.

A little powder blue wallet. The smile returned to his face.

It seemed he wouldn’t have to wait long to see more of Kym Ladell.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAA HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN URM ILY YOU'RE THE BADDEST BITCH HAVE A BOMB REST OF YOUR DAY but not literal bomb because we don't want to recreate ph irl <3 KEEP ON BEING EPIC


End file.
